Dick Whittington's Cat

Few cats have shaped a legend as enduring as the one tied to Richard Whittington, a real medieval English merchant who served four times as Lord Mayor of London and died in 1423. The historical Whittington was wealthy and generous, funding hospitals, libraries and almshouses — but folklore gave him a far humbler origin story and an unlikely feline partner. According to the tale, retold in ballads and pantomimes for centuries, a poor country boy named Dick comes to London believing its streets are paved with gold. Finding only hardship, he buys a single cat to rid his garret of rats. When his master allows servants to send goods to sell on a trading voyage, Dick has nothing to offer but the cat. The ship reaches a distant land plagued by mice, where the cat proves so valuable that the ruler pays a fortune for it — and that fortune launches Whittington's rise to wealth and the office of Lord Mayor. On the road out of London, the story has Dick hearing the Bow Bells seem to chime "Turn again, Whittington, Lord Mayor of London", calling him back to his destiny. Historians have found no evidence the real Whittington ever owned such a cat, but the legend has proved unkillable: it remains one of Britain's best-loved pantomimes, and a stone monument on Highgate Hill — topped by a statue of the famous cat — still marks the spot where Dick is said to have turned back.